CBI judge reveals coal scam accused had approached him

In an unprecedented development on Monday, a special CBI court judge told the defence lawyers that he was being approached by one of the accused in coal scam on more than one occasion and this must not be repeated.

Hearing a case related to the allocation of a coal block in 2008, the special CBI judge reportedly told the defence lawyers, “it has happened again.”

The judge added, “I’m sorry to say that with such senior lawyers appearing in the case, I had not expected that it would happen, but it has happened again. If this is happening without your knowledge, then I can’t say anything but this was not expected.”

The advocate representing Jindal Group replied, “the management has taken a strong note of it and we taking action. I assure you that it will not happen again.”

The judge, however, did not reveal the identity of the individual, who had approached him either on this occasion or in the past.

The CBI is investigating this particular case for alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group companies, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).

The court had earlier granted bails to 10 accused in connection with the coal block allocation including industrialist Naveen Jindal, former chief minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda and ex-minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao.